Chapter Seven - Dark Oak
~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~
Avery descended the stairs in her house, she had her purse and school bag on the same shoulder.
Stepping off the last stair her black high heels with gold glitter specks, clicked on the floor as she made her way to the front door.
"Avery!" Richard called after his daughter as he headed towards her.
Spinning around her dark lined eyes watched him expectantly.
His eyes widened as he looked at the black, fitted button up shirt she was wearing with a wide black leather belt over her upper stomach. The first few buttons were undone and her dark red bra was slightly visible.
"What?" She asked when he didn't respond.
"Avery… I think that was meant to be wore a shirt and not a dress." He managed to say as he avoided her eyes and looked around the entry way of the large house.
"I'm wearing shorts." She stated flatly as she lifted the bottom of the shirt and revealed a pair of dark denim short-shorts.
"Wow… there's not much to those, is there?" He muttered under his breath.
Rolling her eyes she sighed. They'd done nothing but fight since she got home from the summer.
He still thought she'd just stayed gone on vacation and didn't call him.
"Do you want me to change?" She questioned.
After a pause he said, "Avery, you're old enough to dress yourself. I'm not going to tell you what to wear."
"Later." She said as she turned back towards the door.
"I got a call a little bit ago, from a Ms. Blake." He said.
Avery turned and faced him with a confused expression, "I don't know who the hell that is."
"She's a teacher from your school… I'm guessing if you'd actually been going to you classes, you might know her." He said.
She sighed, knowing he now knew she'd been skipping school since she'd gotten home.
She'd been spending her days at the house that her mom had grown up, reading books and learning about her family history.
Plus, she knew Aiden and Ethan we're posing as students and she didn't want to spend the day with anyone from the alpha pack that had kidnapped her and killed Erica.
"She said you hadn't been in school since the beginning on the year and she looked over your attendance from previous years and you've never missed this many days before. She's concerned." He continued.
"Why the hell is she looking into my file?" Avery asked, with raised eyebrows.
"I don't know, maybe she really takes an interest in her students. But the bigger question is where have you been going everyday when you leave here with your book bag?" He questioned.
"What did you tell this person that called?" Avery demanded to know.
"I said that you'd not been feeling well since you returned from vacation, and I'd gotten busy with work and forgot to call you in." He admitted what he'd said, and that he'd covered for her.
"Did you even check and see if there really is a new teacher at the school this year?" Avery questioned.
"Well no…" He started to say but she cut him off.
"Dad, don't tell anyone anything about me. Especially if it's someone you don't know or haven't heard of." She snapped, not meaning too.
"What the hell is going on with you?" He asked, his voice raised.
"I just think we need to be more careful." She breathed out as she rubbed her forehead.
"I looked over the statements and you didn't use a one of your credit cards this summer. Not once… there wasn't even a charge for a hotel." He explained.
"Dad, I'm late for school." She quickly said as she turned at started out the door.
"Did something happen?" He asked as he followed her out to her car.
She frowned.
What could she possibly tell him? She couldn't say she'd spent the entire summer being held captive by a pack of alpha werewolves.
"Everything's fine. I'm still just trying to adjust to being back home, and I'm jet lagged." She made excuses for her behavior as she tossed her bags in the backseat of her car and got into the driver's seat.
"Are you really going to school?" He asked.
"Yes!" she lied, as she shut her door and started the car.
~()~
After the bell rang, signaling the start of lunch, Teagan walked to her locker to put her books away. Ordinarily she would head for the lunch room and sit with her friends, but not today. Today she had detention.
Growing up she never had detention often. This was actually only the second time she had detention. The other time was the follow year when she had tried to talk to Jackson in the locker room while he was in a kanima daze.
Needless to say that talk didn't go well, especially when Isaac showed up and the two boys got into a bad fight, causing a group of them to end up with detention.
Once her books and purse were safe inside the locker, she slammed the door shut then made her way toward Mr. Harris' classroom, where detention was taking place.
She walked into the room, thinking she was going to be the first one there, then paused when she saw Allison sitting at the middle table alone.
Allison looked up when she heard someone enter the room, then flashed a small smile when she saw it was Teagan. Although she wasn't all that surprised when she ignored the smile and walked past her. Hurt, but not surprised.
Teagan walked across the room, wanting to get as far away from Allison as possible. She paused again when she made it beside a table, her back toward Allison, as she remembered her thought from earlier that day. She needed to be prepared for what was to come, which meant as much as she hated to do it, she had to talk to Allison and get her help.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then slowly released it before she turned around and walked over to the table Allison was sitting at. She stopped right beside her, taking Allison by surprise.
"Ok, I'm in." Teagan said, as she folded her arms across her chest.
"What?" Allison asked confused.
"The training... me, you and Avery... I'm in." Teagan explained, wanting to say as less as she could to her.
"Ok, great!" Allison said, as she sat up in her seat happily.
"We'll get together one day this week for the first lesson, but starting tomorrow you should start running every morning to improve your stamina, you're gonna need it." She added.
"No problem. A few times a week I usually take Aspen on a three mile run." Teagan said.
"Good, that is good, but double it and do it every morning, not just a few times." Allison said back, then added,"A few times is not gonna cut it. I need you in the best shape possible."
"Are you trying to say I'm in bad shape now?" Teagan questioned with a hint of attitude.
"For a hunter... yes." Allison answered honestly. When she saw the look on Teagan's face, she sighed then added, "Look it's not like I'm trying to call you fat or anything, you are in good shape if you wanted to do some other kind of activity, but to be a hunter you have to be better. You have to be in your best shape ever to go up against werewolves and any other supernatural thing that we come across."
"I don't want to be a hunter. I just want to protect my friends and my boyfriend from things that will hurt them." Teagan pointed out, then added, "Or people who might stab them repeatedly with a knife."
Allison turned in her seat to look at Teagan as she prepared to say something she knew would piss her off, but she knew it had to be said.
"And how do you think I was able to stab Isaac that much?" She questioned, seeing Teagan clenching her jaw, then answered,"Cause I was in my best shape. I had been training day and night, just waiting... waiting until it was time to go against Derek and his pack and I was ready."
"Of course now I realize I had my anger pointed to the wrong people but I was still ready for anything and everything that came my way and that is the way you need to be, that is the way I can train you and Avery." Allison continued, then added,"if that is what you want."
Teagan thought about it for a moment, as Isaac and her other loved ones crossed her mind, then she nodded her head as she quietly said,"it's what I want."
"Good." Allison said, then added,"starting tomorrow... six miles, then we'll work up from there."
Teagan gave her a short nod, then turned around and sat down at the table beside the one Allison was sitting at. She still wasn't happy about being around Allison or the things she did, but she had to admit she was right, she needed to be prepared for anything that happened.
Isaac and the others had their werewolf abilities and strength, even Avery knew some self-defense, but she knew nothing. Nothing that could keep her alive.
She thought back to when Jackson was the kanima and all the close calls she had with him. If it wasn't for their connection and the fact that she could reach out to him, he would have killed her a long time ago. Now with the alpha pack around and the murders going on, she needed to take care of herself cause she couldn't keep counting on someone else to save her. She knew Isaac would give his life to protect her and she couldn't let him do that.
Teagan was still lost in thought when a few other students walked into the classroom for detention. The last person to walk into the room was Isaac, who made his way over to her and sat down in the seat beside her. He glanced over at her, seeing the serious expression on her face and leaned toward her as he asked, "Are you ok?"
Teagan turned her head to look at him and nodded her head, she opened her mouth to answer but before she could say a word, Harris walked into the room, telling everyone to be quiet.
Isaac glanced off to the side and scoffed when he saw Allison, he looked back over at his girlfriend as he mumbled, "Wonder what the warrior princess did to get detention?"
"I dunno." Teagan whispered back.
"Did you know she's still hunting?" Isaac asked her quietly.
"Really?" Teagan whispered, as she looked over at Allison. She remembered Lydia telling her over the summer that Allison and Mr. Argent had retired from hunting. For a moment she wondered if it was a good idea to train with Allison. If she was sneaking around hunting, could she also still be doing what Gerard wanted?
No one knew if he was still alive or not since he was never found, but maybe Allison knew something. Maybe training with her wasn't such a good idea after all.
"I didn't know she was hunting." Teagan said, as she turned her head to look at Isaac again as they continued their quiet conversation.
"Yeah, the night we were tracking Cora and Boyd, she was here at the school. She helped get them inside." Isaac explained.
A confused expression came across Teagan's face, this was the first she had heard about Allison helping them. She couldn't help but wonder why Scott or no one else had told her this before.
As if he could read her mind, Isaac added, "I was the only one who saw her, no one else did."
"So she was helping?" Teagan asked, wondering if she had been to hard on Allison. If she helping them now, maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
"Looks that way." Isaac answered, he turned his head a little to look at the girl in question, then added quietly to Teagan, "I still don't trust her though."
Teagan opened her mouth to comment back but before she could, Mr. Harris spoke up,"Ms. Young and Mr. Lahey, what part of 'be quiet' didn't you two understand?"
"Ms. Young you are already in here because you couldn't follow orders. Maybe a few more lunch time detentions will help your hearing a little better." Mr. Harris added, as he narrowed his eyes at her, causing Isaac to quietly growl.
Seeing that Isaac was getting angry, Teagan laid her hand on his knee under the table, giving it a small squeeze to calm him down, before she spoke up to her teacher and said, "Sorry sir. It won't happen again."
"Good." Mr. Harris said, then added, "Perhaps an hour in the janitor's closet, restocking the shelves will do the trick."
"You can even take your little talking partner with you." Mr. Harris added, as he gestured toward Isaac, then added, "That way maybe you two can actually get some work down while running your mouths."
Teagan felt Isaac tense up beside her about going into a closet, causing her to clear her throat before calling out, "Uh, Mr. Harris, excuse me. I have a question."
"There is your voice again." Mr. Harris said with a sigh. He turned toward her then said,"you know Ms. Young I have heard your voice more today then I ever want to. Matter of fact, I would love it if I didn't have to hear it anymore this year."
"I'm sorry sir, I don't mean to bug you but it's just... does it have to be the janitor's closet? I mean can't we just clean the bathrooms or something?" Teagan asked, ignoring his previous comment.
"Is there a problem with going into the janitor's closet?" Mr. Harris questioned, as he looked at her and then over at Isaac, almost as if he already knew the answer.
Teagan glanced over at Isaac for a moment, seeing a nervous look on his face, but not wanting to call him out, she looked back at her teacher then said, "Actually yeah there is. I hate closets."
Mr. Harris paused for a minute, making her think for a moment he did actually care, until he spoke up and said,"Now that I know you prefer not to... yes. You have to restock the shelves in the janitor's closet and if I hear one more word out of your mouth then you'll be doing it every day this week, understood?"
Teagan kept her mouth closed and just nodded her head.
As Harris begin to assign the rest of the students, Teagan glanced over at Isaac, shooting him a small smile as she whispered, "Sorry."
Isaac shot her a smile back and lightly squeezed her hand, hoping to ease her mind with no luck. She knew how he felt about small spaces, she just had to help him through it somehow.
Several minutes later, the two stood outside the janitor's closet. Teagan reached forward to open the door and swung it open, then she glanced over beside her to see Isaac take a few deep breathes, trying to work up the nerve to walk inside.
"You don't have to do this, babe." Teagan said, then added, "You can stay out here and I'll go in and put everything up. It shouldn't take that long."
"No, it's ok. I can do this." Isaac said, as he took another deep breath. He looked over at her then added, "I mean, I have to do this. I can't let things like this control me. It'll be ok."
"You sure?" Teagan questioned him.
"Mm-hm." Isaac mumbled with a short nod, as he tried to distract himself from what he was about to do. He tried to think of anything else, anything else besides the fact that he was about to walk into a small closet. He just needed to think of a happy place.
'Which was anywhere but here... yet anywhere with her'. He thought to himself, as he looked over at Teagan with a soft smile on his face. She was his happy place.
Teagan looked over at him, catching him looking at her and smiled back at him, as she asked, "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Isaac answered back, before he wheeled the boxes inside.
Teagan walked in behind him, holding a few packs of paper towels in her arms. She saw him glanced around nervously then walked over beside him as she said, "Hey, did I ever tell you the story about this new girl who moved into town and the sweet boy who changed her life?"
"What?" Isaac ask with a chuckle, as he looked over at her.
"Yeah there was this new girl, well actually she wasn't new, but she was moving back to town after being gone for years and she was very nervous about that." Teagan begin to say, then added, "So nervous in fact, she had a panic attack at school, but this really sweet and cute boy helped her."
Isaac smiled, knowing what she was doing now, she was trying to distract him like he did that day when she had a panic attack in the bathroom.
He placed a few bottles on the shelf then said, "I actually do know that story. The guy was just trying to use the bathroom, minding his own business, when some crazed girl comes running in. He didn't know what was going on and just figured he better calm her down before she snaps on him and murders him right there in the boy's bathroom or something."
"I was not crazed " Teagan said with a gasp, as she looked over at him. When she saw him raise his eyebrows at her, she quickly added, "I mean the girl wasn't crazed."
"She was a little crazed." Isaac said back, then added, "But the boy still thought she was very hot, even if her face was all red and she was gasping for air. He couldn't help but think he wouldn't mind bending her over the sink and... "
Teagan gasped, as she lightly hit his shoulder, then said to interrupt him, "Isaac! You are ruining our story."
"That was a sweet moment for us and you are turning it into something perverted." She added, as she shot him a look but couldn't help but chuckle at him.
"What? I'm just being honest." Isaac said as he laughed along with her. "Besides that is not how our story started, our story started the day you gave me the valentine's day card." He added.
"And let me guess, you wanted to bend me over the desk that day?" Teagan joked.
"No, we were eleven then. I didn't..." Isaac begin to say, then he paused for a moment as he thought about it, then added, "Well actually yeah, I probably did want to bend you over the desk."
"You are such a guy, you know that right?" Teagan joked, then added, "Is sex really all you think about?"
"When I have a hot girlfriend like you... pretty much so, yeah." Isaac answered with a laugh. He walked over to her, taking some cleaning supplies from her hand and placed them on a shelf, then he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him as he rested his forehead against hers while slowly swaying them back and forth before whispering, "Just imagine all the places I could bend you over in here."
Teagan chuckled as she bit her bottom lip then looked up at him as she said, "And we still have some time before lunch is over."
"Now who's thinking about sex?" Isaac joked.
"Well when I have a hot boyfriend like you... it's hard not to." She joked back, as she ran her hands up his chest and wrapped them around his neck.
Isaac grinned at her then lowered his head to kiss her, but before their lips could meet the two pulled away when they heard a door slam shut and the room went dark. She glanced over to the closed door, then she looked back up at Isaac, seeing that he was already starting to freak out.
"Shh, it's ok. Baby, it's ok. I can fix this." Teagan softly said to him, hoping to calm him down.
She walked over to the door, grabbing the knob and turning it as she pushed against the door, quickly realizing it wouldn't open. She pushed the door again as she mumbled, "There's something against it."
"Move, just move." Isaac said a little harsher than he meant, as he pushed her aside.
"Isaac, babe, just take a deep breath, ok?" Teagan said over to him, then added, "We're going to get out of here, I promise."
Isaac ignored her comments as grabbed on to the door frame, trying to build up strength to push the door open. He twisted the knob a few times and slammed into the door, but no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn't budge.
"No, no, no, no. Not again, not again." He mumbled to himself, as he continued to push against the door with no luck. He couldn't help but flash back to the times his father would lock him in the freezer, no matter how much he screamed or begged, he would never let him out.
"Come on! Open! Open!" Isaac screamed out, as he hit against the door over and over again.
"Isaac... Isaac, please." Teagan called out, as tears filled her eyes while watching him. She knew he was remembering a bad time, but there was nothing she could do to help, no matter how much she cried out for him, she couldn't get through to him.
"Baby, please, just listen to my voice. Please." She added softly, as she laid a hand on his back.
Isaac snapped his head to the side, not realizing it was her and growled at her. She gasped and took a step back when she saw his eyes glowing and his fangs out.
"No, Isaac. No!" She cried out, as he took a step toward her.
Teagan reached up to touch the side of his voice, hoping the contact will reach him the way it did back when Jackson was the kanima, but when he saw her lift her hand, he wrapped his hand around her wrist, stopping her, squeezing it a little harder then he meant to.
Teagan whimpered out in pain, then looked up at him, catching his eye as she said calmly, "Isaac, look at me. Isaac please, look at me and take a deep breath. It's going to be ok. It's you and me remember? We're gonna get through this and get out of here, I promise."
She saw him lower his eyebrows in confusion, as he finally realized what he was doing. He loosen his grip on her wrist and felt his face shifting back to normal. He looked into her eyes, feeling guilty for the way he acted and opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could say a word, the door swung open and he felt someone grab onto his shirt, pulling him out into the hall.
He felt even worse when he felt his claws cut across her skin as he was being pulled back.
Teagan gasped in pain as she looked down at the cut on her wrist, then looked up to see that Scott had pulled Isaac away. He looked at her for a moment, as if to ask if she was ok. She nodded her head 'yeah', then the two ran out into the hall to see Isaac pressed against the wall, his head in his hands.
When he heard her heart racing he looked up, seeing the cut on her arm from him, and cried out, "I'm sorry, I didn't- I didn't mean to do that."
"I know, baby I know." Teagan said, hating to see him beat himself up.
She walked over to him and was surprised when he scooted away from her. He was scared to be around her, scared he would hurt her again, but she didn't care, she took another step toward him and fell down to her knees, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close.
"I'm so sorry." Isaac mumbled into her ear, as he rested his head in her hair.
"It's ok, it's ok." She whispered back, as she ran a hand up and down his back.
Teagan kissed the side of his face then looked up at Scott as she said, It's not his fault."
"I know." Scott said back, as he clenched his jaw.
Scott watched her turn back to look at Isaac, whispering words of comfort and giving him light kisses, then he said, "I guess now we know they want to do more than get you angry, they want to get someone hurt."
Isaac looked over at Teagan, knowing how badly things could have got and felt his anger rising. Because of the twins, he had hurt her, something he never wanted to do, now he really wanted to make them pay.
He looked up at Scott then asked, "So are we gonna do something?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna get them angry." Scott said, then added, "Really angry."
"And I got the perfect idea." Teagan said, getting both boys attention as she held up a set of keys, Aiden's key, causing the other two boys to smile once they realized what she was thinking.
~()~
It was later on that after noon that Avery pulled to a stop outside of the animal clinic.
An older man walked past her with a pet carrier in his hand, she looked down to see a little white kitten peering out.
The man smiled at her and she returned the friendly gesture, and for the first time she realized how much she missed her own kitten.
"Avery, it's good to see you. Is everything okay with Annabel…" Dr. Deaton greeted, his voice trailing off when he saw she didn't have a pet carrier.
"No… I actually came to talk to you." She explained as she walked up to the desk.
He watched her for a few moments before he said, "Thinking about getting another pet?"
She was silent as she watched him put the file away he'd been writing in.
"I want to talk to you about… my mom." She said, her light brown eyes meeting his as she spoke.
Offering a friendly smile he said, "I'm a little confused as to why you came to me."
He turned and headed back into one of the exam rooms to clean up after the last appointment.
She followed him, "You knew her didn't you?"
As he wiped the metal table down with disinfectant, he glanced at her. "Yes, I did."
Avery stood silent as she waited for him to continue talking, but he didn't.
"I know my mom's side of the family wasn't normal. She was like you… wasn't she?" Avery pushed for information.
"I'm a veterinarian." He reminded her as he washed his hands.
"We both know that's not what I'm talking about…" She said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I can help you." He said as he turned and faced her again.
"I think you're the only who can help me." She argued.
"I've been reading… a lot. About druids, and celtic symbols… reading about my family history and ancestors. But there's so much my head is spinning." She admitted, a twinge of helplessness in her voice.
"I think it's best if you go home." He said, an empathetic look in his eyes as he spoke.
"I'm not leaving until I get what I came here for." She said stubbornly.
He glanced at the clock on the far wall.
"What exactly are you looking for?" He continued to question her.
"My mom kept some journals…most of it is pretty cryptic and doesn't make much sense, but she mentioned you. She really seemed to trust you… and I… I don't have anyone else I can talk to." She admitted, cursing herself as tears burnt her eyes.
He let out a small sigh as he said, "I really think you should go home."
"You know, I read that many druids give their children Celtic names out of respect to deities and the druid religion based on nature. My mom's name was Aleine, a Celtic name meaning; sunbeam." Avery rambled, hoping he'd listen to her.
"Not an uncommon name." He stated, when she paused.
"Everyone who knew her said she was so full of light." Avery said softly as she glanced down to the floor.
A slight pained expression spread over his face as he watched her trying not to break down. It wasn't that he didn't want to help her, but he felt like not telling her anything was the best way to protect her.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." He finally said.
Avery looked up at him as she shrugged and said, "I don't have a choice."
"You always have a choice." He assured her.
"Are you going to help me, or not?" she finally said, her tone sharper than she'd meant it to be.
"I'm not sure I want to." He admitted, and then after a pause said, "It's so easy to take the wrong path."
"I know right from wrong." She said with a shrug.
"I don't just mean right and wrong. I'm talking about good and evil… the light and the darkness. I'm not entirely sure you're in the right place to choose the right path for yourself." He explained, choosing his words carefully and trying to get his point across without offending her.
Avery sighed her gaze falling to the metal exam table where the harsh overhead lighting was glaring so bad on the reflective surface it hurt her eyes.
Rolling her eyes she said, "Is this because I wear black? Because if you want me to go borrow one of Teagan's pink shirts…"
He raised his eyebrows in response to her.
He cut her off, "This isn't a joke. This is more serious than you can imagine."
Her eyes widened at the tone of his voice, "I'm not talking about your clothes, I'm talking the darkness, the rage."
She gave him a confused look.
"No one can blame you for being angry, with everything you've been through in your life. But being so full of anger and resentment… it's too dangerous." He tried to explain to her.
Avery swallowed hard as she glanced down to the table again, partly trying to hold back her anger now. Who was he to judge what she'd been through. But all the same she knew he was right, ever since her mom's death she'd been filled with anger. Once her dad started ignoring her, and Teagan moved away it had only gotten worse.
When she didn't respond, Dr. Deaton continued, "Avery, when you first found out that Peter Hale was the alpha who'd been killing people… you took his side."
She wondered how he even knew that, but instead she said, "Because he was getting revenge for what happened with his family… and yeah, I wanted everyone involved in causing that fire to pay for what they'd done. That fire killed my mom."
"You didn't just want them held accountable, you wanted them to pay with their lives." He spoke calmly, but his eyes seemed to be reading right into her soul.
Her jaw tensed in anger, and she knew he was right. But it didn't change the fact that she needed to know things only he could tell her.
Nodding she admitted, "You're damn right I did, if we're being entirely honest I would have helped him kill them. But that was before, and this is now. I'm a different person…"
"Being filled with that much anger, such rage that you desire to see someone die, that leaves a mark on your soul, a darkness I'm sure you can run from no matter how much you think you've changed." He continued.
She looked up at him, the steely look in her eyes was unnerving.
Hearing the door chime, letting him know someone had entered the building he excused himself as he walked towards the door of the exam room and then turned to look at Avery for a few moments before he left her alone in the room.
She could hear him talking to Stiles in the waiting room of the office. Stiles had came to him for help. With all the murders lately, the sheriff hadn't been able to figure out what was going on because he didn't know the entire story.
She listened as they walked into another exam room.
"All of these symbols and things, the trisklese, the bank logo… the mountain ash. All of it's from the Celtic Druids. And anyone who's ever looked up human sacrifice before, knows that the druids had a pretty big hard on, when it came to giving one up to the Gods." Stiles said as he followed Deaton into the room.
"Every hear of the Lindow Man? A two thousand year old body found in England, he was found strangled, head bashed in, and throat cut." Stiles asked him.
Leaning against the doorframe to the room Avery said, "A three-fold death."
Stiles jumped and spun around looking at her wide-eyed.
"Hey…" He breathed out. It was the first time he'd seen her since the night Scott and Derek had saved her from the bank.
"Hey." She said back, her eyes locking with his for a few moments.
"You were saying…" she said with an arched eyebrow waiting for him to continue.
Shaking his head and managing to pull his eyes away from her he looked back to Deaton as he said, "And they also found pollen grains in his stomach… guess what favorite druid plant that was?"
"Mistletoe." Avery said as she walked further into the room.
Both teens looked up to see Dr. Deaton pull part of a mistletoe plant from a glass bottle.
Stiles looked at him as he said, "I'm just telling you everything, you already know… so why aren't you telling us?"
Avery nodded in agreement.
"Maybe because when you've spent every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away, denying it, lying about it… becomes a pretty powerful habit." He said, his voice was quiet and slightly pained as he avoided their eyes.
"So is this guy a druid?" Stiles asked, about the murderer.
Swallowing hard, Deaton replied "No, only copying the practices of a century old people who should have known better. Do you know what the word Druid means in Gaelic?"
Stiles shook his head and Avery said, "It's mean wise oak. The Celtic druids were close to nature."
Deaton nodded and Stiles gave her a confused look.
"They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars… not serial killers." Deaton said.
"Yeah, well this one is." Stiles replied.
Avery jumped when her phone started to ring from her bra.
Shamelessly she reached into her bra and retrieved her phone glancing at screen before announcing to the group, "It's Lydia…"
Stiles swallowed hard, and rubbed hand through his hair trying not to stare at her dark red bra peeking out from the top of the unbuttoned shirt.
"Hey Lydia, sorry I've not called you back. I've been really busy…" Avery said. She hadn't really talked to anyone lately, not even Teagan.
"This isn't about that. The band teacher is gone… he's been taken!" Lydia said frantically.
Taking the phone away from her ear she put it on speaker and said, "What do you mean the band teacher is missing?"
"He's not just missing, A. He's been taken!" Lydia said, her voice was choppy and her breathing labored.
"Where are you?" Avery asked.
"The band room obviously!" Lydia yelled back into the phone, attitude in her voice. With a heavy sigh of irritation to show she didn't have time for questions, she just needed someone to get there now.
"Okay… I'm on my way." Avery said.
"I think we should call someone else… Stiles maybe." Lydia offered.
"I'm right here." Stiles announced.
"Is that why neither of you are at school?" Lydia asked, her voice a bit calmer than before.
"Lydia." Avery said with a sigh.
"What? I'm one your best friends… you're supposed to tell me these things." Lydia replied.
"There's nothing to tell. I'm on my way, be careful." Avery said as she ended the call and looked at Stiles and Dr. Deaton.
They both accompanied Avery to the school to meet Lydia.
"Hey… are you okay?" Avery asked as she rushed into the band room.
"I… I don't even know what I was doing in here to begin with." Lydia admitted, her voice quiet.
Avery looked at her concerned as she stepped forward and hugged her friend.
"I just have a question… why'd you call her?" Stiles asked as the girls stepped back from their hug.
"What?" Lydia asked confused, a slightly dazed look on her face.
"You found a body and you called me… but a teacher goes missing and you call Avery?" He pushed.
"I… I don't know. I picked up my phone and just called her, I don't know why. I just felt like she should be the one I called first." Lydia tried to explain, but now she was even confused by the action.
"Lydia, you said that you're sure your teacher was taken?" Deaton asked.
Lydia played them the recording she'd found on the teachers phone.
"Can I get a copy of this?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah." Lydia said as she started brought up a new text message on the phone.
"Me too." Avery quickly said.
"Some help over here would be nice." Stiles called out, as he continued to go through the teachers desk.
"Each grouping of three would have their purpose. It's own type of power; virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors…" Dr. Deaton started to explain.
But Stiles cut him off, "Warriors, could that also be like a solider?"
"Absolutely." Deaton agreed.
Stiles held up a picture of the teacher in military clothes, and said "Kyle was in junior ROTC with Boyd."
Avery frowned as she looked down to the floor. Just like Teagan, she'd been friendly with the popular senior.
Then her eyes widened and she gasped, "Was Boyd in school today…where is he now?"
Being locked in the bank hadn't only bought Erica and Avery together as friends, but she'd also grown closer to Boyd and Cora.
Stiles scrambled to pull his phone out as he said, "I'll call him."
Seeing the expression change on Lydia's face, Deaton asked "Lydia, is something wrong?"
"No. well, I… I just thought of someone else with a military connection." She admitted, as she told about Mr. Harris.
The group of three headed over to the chemistry room.
When they saw that Harris wasn't there, Deaton said "this is just one of many possibilities. He could have simply left for the day."
"Yeah, well what about this?" Stiles asked as he pulled the teachers laptop case from under the desk.
Lydia looked around the room and Avery focused her attention on the small stack of graded papers.
Stiles followed Avery's eyesight until he saw what caught her attention.
"What?" Stiles breathed out as he picked up the test.
"What?" Deaton asked.
"This paper's graded R." He explained.
"This one is an H." Lydia said as she saw the next one.
Brushing past them, Deaton rearranged the tests on the desk.
"Remember how druid is the Gaelic word for wise oak?" Deaton asked them.
"Yeah." Stiles said.
"If a druid went down the wrong path; the wise oak was sometimes said to have become a dark oak. There's a Gaelic word for that as well." He said.
Stiles looked down to the papers on the desk, but Avery didn't have to as she said, "Darach."
~()~
Teagan and Isaac stood by each other outside of the school and watched as Scott headed inside with some parts from Ethan's bike in his book bag.
"Oh, this is going to be great." Teagan said with a small laugh.
Isaac smiled as he looked at her, but his expression fell when he saw the bandage on her arm.
"Teagan, I'm so sorry. I didn't meant to hurt you." He apologized again, still feeling terrible for accidently injuring her.
She put her hand on the side of his face and nodded, "I know you didn't… and it's just a scratch. I'll be fine."
Before Isaac could talk about it anymore, Teagan said "Come on, I'll show you how to operate the bike.
Smugly, Isaac said, "I know how to drive a motorcycle."
"Is that so?" Teagan asked with a flirty smile as she turned and faced him.
Isaac nodded as he sat down on Aiden's bike and looked at the handles.
"Okay then hot shot, tell me how it works." She said knowing he didn't know a thing about them.
"You… wouldn't understand if I did tell you." He playfully said as he stood up and pressed a kiss to her lips.
She smiled against his parted lips and cocked her head slightly to the side deepening their kiss before she stepped back and said, "Well… at least you know how to kiss."
Isaac laughed at her remark and sat back down on the bike.
"It can't be too hard to figure out." He reasoned out loud.
Standing beside him she said, "Pull back with your left hand and kick down to put it in gear."
He watched her as she placed his hand on the handle bars, "Brake."
Moving his hand back some she turned the handle and said, "Throttle."
"Whoa… wait, just wait a minute. How do you know any of this?" He asked, not able to hide his shock.
Letting out a laugh Teagan looked at him and said, "Not too long before I had to move away, Avery was dating this older guy with a motorcycle. She wanted to impress him by knowing about bikes, so we spent an entire Friday night reading about them."
Isaac shook his head and laughed at her response, "I should have guessed it was something like that."
"Even though…" Teagan said her voice trailing off as she leaned in a little closer.
"I never really understood the sex appeal about guys on bikes... until I saw you on one." She responded as she pressed her lips to his for a heated kiss.
Isaac immediately got lost in the moment with her, wanting nothing more than to just stay out of school, away from the twin alphas and spend time with his girlfriend.
Remembering that Scott was counting on them Teagan managed to pull back from the kiss, "And whatever you do… try not to crash.
"Been there, done that." He breathed out, remembering the night the girl who'd saved him from the alpha pack had wrecked with him on the back of the bike.
"You got it all?" She asked, with raised eyebrows.
He nodded and Teagan took a step back, pulling her phone out she sent Scott a pic of Isaac on the bike to show him they were ready.
When her phone went off with a response, she said "I'll grab the door."
She gave him another kiss before he pulled the helmet on. Once Isaac had gotten the bike inside of the school, Teagan let go of the door and raced around to the side entrance that was close to her last class of the day.
She made it inside just as the rest of her class was heading out into the hallway to see what was going on.
"Nice work." Scott said quietly as he stood beside Teagan and watched Aiden standing in the hallway holding onto his bike, while Isaac stood with the other students seemingly innocent in the situation.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Ms. Blake said with a look of disbelief as she approached Aiden.
He looked at her and stayed silent. He didn't have an explanation for what had happened.
"You realize this is going to result in a suspension!" She continued to lecture.
Isaac stifled a laugh and exchanged looks with Scott and Teagan.
Aiden looked at the three teenagers his jaw tense in anger.
Teagan smiled widely at him knowing that, for the moment at least, they had won.
A/N- Aren't Teagan and Isaac just the cutest! ^_^ Thanks so much for reading! I really hope you guys all liked the chapter. Miss E Charlotte and I have just finished plotting out episodes 11 & 12 of the first part of season 3!
I literally cannot even express how excited we are to share it with our wonderful, loyal readers. We have so much in store it's going to be a hell of a ride!
Don't forget to leave use a review and let us know if you're still with us.